-122- 
Xn China this plant was used against the .mulberry worm ( Rondotia 
menolan* Moore) •— Soarone ( 363) • 
VERATRUM VIRIDE Ait. Synonym: V. album virlde Baker. Green hellebore. 
The green or American hellebore (V. virlde ) , oalled "swamp helle- 
bore," "Indian poke," and "itoh-weed,"""is a oommon plant in wet ground 
and grows over a considerable area of the United States, The properties 
of this are said to be similar to those of white hellebore (V. album )* — 
Cook and coworkers ( 104 , p. 17) • 
Experiments showed that oertain extracts from this species possessed 
considerable toxicity to several insects, either as stomach or contact 
insecticides. Poor results with the whole powdered drug, however, were 
readily explained by the fact that the toxio alkaloids are present in 
the drug in proportions too small to be effective. For general insect 
control it would appear necessary to extract the alkaloids, and to employ 
them in a more' concentrated form. Perfection of practioal methods of 
extraction may again make this drug economically important as- a source 
of insecticidal materiel. Standardisation of *the drug should be based 
upon the fraction of alkaloids soluble in ether and not upon the total 
alkaloid content, since the fraction of alkaloids insoluble in ether 
is nontoxic— Fisher (158 ). 
XANTHORRHOEA HASTILIS R. Br. Black-boy tree. 
An Australian patent recommends washing sheep with a mixture of 
100 parts of oil obtained by the destructive distillation of black-boy 
or yacoa-gumi, and 50 parts of fish oil.— Harrison (186). 
ZIGADENUS VENENOSUS S. Wats* Zigadenus. 
Powders from the roots, stems, and leaves and extracts from them 
had no effeot on grasshoppers, webworms, and potato beetle larvae, and 
only a slight effect on silkworms.— Mclndoo and Sievers (259, p. 24). 
Comments by Reviewer .— Despite the numerous poisonous species among 
the Liliaoeae, only Veratrum album and V. virlde oan truly be called 
insecticidal, and they are much inferior to derris and cube. 
LIHACSAI 
(Flax Family) 
LINUM USITATISSIMUM L. Flax. 
A large number of papers deal with linseed oil as an ingredient in 
insecticides, but these will not be reviewed. Linseed oil is derived 
from flax seeds whioh are nonpoisonous, although when the oil is proper- 
ly used it has some insecticidal properties. 
